Taxes

...Hawaii Tax Freedom Day is 43rd among states....

...Multiple carbon-dioxide tax bills are under consideration in the current session of the Hawaii State Legislature....

...our legislature has a dogged focus on new taxes....

...'Sin' taxes are levied on a relatively narrow tax base, and many are regressive, with a larger share of the tax burden falling on those with lower incomes....

...A new Grassroot Institute of Hawaii report suggests ways to build a financial reserve....

...Unlike tax rates, which vary widely based on an individual’s circumstances, tax burden measures the proportion of total personal income that residents pay toward state and local taxes....

...Before the ink was dry on those judgments, the Department of Taxation produced additional assessments against the taxpayers, this time on car rental commissions....

...Hawaii lawmakers are considering a myriad of new tax increases in order to pay for their spending plans, but instead they should clamp down on their spending so tax hikes aren’t needed....

...a byzantine structure of taxes and fees, with effective tax rates on consumers often exceeding 30 percent....

...with a month to go, legislators will have plenty of time to raise your taxes....

...tax increases would affect commercial, up by 14 cents per $1,000 of valuation; industrial, up by 3 cents per thousand; hotel and resort, up by 23 cents per thousand; and short-term rental, up by 27 cents per thousand....

...contrasting state and local tax collections with the quality of the services residents receive in each of the 50 states....

"...Despite the rejection of the Supreme Court of Hawaii, our efforts were key in the legislature’s decision to drop the skim from 10% to 1% during the 2017 Special Session—this was a win for all taxpayers in this State...."

..."Federal Funding as a Share of State Revenue"....

...Senate Bill 1474 would increase your GE Tax by 0.5%....

"SB 1474 Senate Draft 2 that proposes an increase in the GET now specifies '__ per cent or $ _____'"

...The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) will hold 14 community meetings across the state to get public feedback on the concept of a road usage charge....

...The Hawaii Legislature is considering a bill to add 0.5 percent to the 4 percent state general excise tax....

...what we really need to do is fix the inefficiency....

...The Hawaii Legislature seems to have learned the wrong lesson from last year’s constitutional amendment debate....

...Hawaii Ranks 23rd at $129 per capita....

...Hawaii GE Tax takes 8.43% of income from low income families but only 3.31% from high income families -- 2nd most regressive in USA....

...Tom Yamachika gives us a round up of the latest proposals to raise taxes on Hawaii residents....

...Residents were presented with a list of eight potential projects and asked their level of support for each, even if it involved raising taxes or fees....

...individuals, gritting and gnashing their teeth, scour through their financial records and begin the arduous process.... 

...Multiple bills heard this session have revolved around encouraging residents to save. The details vary, but there’s a common theme: The state wants to be your local bank....

... SB1009 threatens the efficacy of a tobacco harm reduction tool that has helped millions of adult Americans quit smoking cigarettes ....

...Senate Bill 1474 proposes levying a 0.5 percent surcharge on the general excise and use tax in order to provide a “dedicated funding source” for the DOE and the University of Hawaii....

...the Hawaii State Personal Income Tax vacuums up $1,481 per person....

...The auditor found that they have lots of money lying around. More than $120 million in accounts that haven’t been even touched for five years....

...New York and California killed off expensive rail projects--Hawaii can too....

...‘Perry & The Posse’ hosts Keli'i Akina on morning radio show....

...creative tax-related bills at our legislature....

...Hawaii residents paid an average of 65.32 cents per gallon in combined gas taxes in 2018....

...In fiscal year 2017, the highest state sales tax collections per capita were found in Hawaii -- $2,269....

...This way of thinking could justify government intervention in nearly all aspects of a person's life....

...Honolulu has a Taxpayer Burden of $23,000, earning it an "F" grade....

...This year, our legislature once again is poised to consider revenue raising – namely, taxes in new and creative ways....

...Hawaii's GE Tax base is more than triple the average sales tax base for US states....

...American Lung Association ‘State of Tobacco Control’ Report Finds Hawaii Must Do More to Prevent, Reduce Tobacco Use....

...How to resolve Hawaii’s public pension debt crisis....

...Recently, we have heard the term “congestion pricing” bandied about as a way of improving traffic congestion here, and of raising more money....

...Noah Fiddler's sentencing is scheduled for May 2, 2019....

...the average per-Taxpayer Burden for these 15 states runs almost $24,000—more than four times the average for the other 35 states....

...Hawaii: State and Local Taxes rake in $6,467 per capita....

...Senate President Ron Kouchi talked about how his “greatest passion was to create a Hawaii where each and every one one of our children could come home.”....

...Hawaii, a state with a sales tax base so broad that it applies to more than the state’s entire economy, taxes not just the machinery businesses use to manufacture goods, but also the raw materials used in manufacturing....

...The economic boom of the last few years allowed them to continue spending at high levels, and many of them would like to keep it that way....

...In 2005, the Legislature provided the land conservation program with a dedicated funding source – ten percent of conveyance tax collected...here's what happened next....

... Perhaps most notable are the increases in the general excise tax on Kauai and Hawaii Island ....